Interview With Actor Aren Buchholz, “When Calls the Heart”

By Ruth on March 29, 2020 in Interview, movie, television

I have no doubt that all fans of the Hallmark/Super Channel Heart & Home show When Calls the Heart are greatly anticipating attending the wedding of the year in Hope Valley tonight (March 29th) when “Team Classe” (self-described fans of the characters Jesse and Clara) finally become officially hitched. Anyone who has been following my endeavors and promotions over the past few years know that I have become an avid supporter of this couple, and while I have met both Aren Buchholz and Eva Bourne in person on more than one occasion, they are often far too occupied to do an interview with me. Thankfully, Aren took some time at the beginning of season seven to sit down and chat with me a while about what can be expected from this season (and beyond) for the delightful couple portrayed by these gifted, upstanding actors. It is my joy and delight to share our interview in anticipation of tonight’s blessed event.

RH: Aren, it’s so nice to chat with you today!

AB: Ruth, same here. Thank you for reaching out.

It’s been a while since our last interview. The last time we chatted at length was back when you were in Wedding March 2 with Tara Wilson.

Oh, yeah, that’s right!

I wanted to say I have been enjoying season seven of When Calls the Heart. Even going back to the Christmas movie this past season.

Thank you, Ruth.

And it has been something to see that there is another wedding to plan.

I know! And it will finally happen on tonight’s episode. What do you think of the season so far?

Oh, I think it’s great! In fact, a few episodes back, I loved when they had Jesse and Clara discussing the wedding, and Jesse wasn’t really able to share his opinion. He was expected to go with whatever Clara wanted for the wedding. {laughs} I know that’s not always the way it is, but I’d say in most cases, that is pretty typical.

Yes, it is time for Jesse to smile and nod and say, “Yes, dear.” {laughs}

Exactly!

That was a fun scene. I liked that one a lot. It showed a little bit of history with Clara’s first wedding. Obviously, she didn’t have a big wedding. It was a bit more modest, and Jesse didn’t know that. So I think that was cool for them to discuss that. Jesse really wants to treat her to the most special occasion it can be for her.

Aren Buchholz (Jesse)

It’s been something to see Jesse’s character arc over the course of the show. Especially when you think of where he came from. My mom was very much against your character for a while. She was like, “He’s no good for Clara. She just needs to drop him and move on.”

{laughs} Oh, yeah, I got a lot of that from the fans, and I kind of agree. Jesse didn’t seem like a good guy who was always good for Clara. And now he’s had quite the redemption story. I always looked at it like this. The more we learned about Jesse’s past, the more we understood him and why he acted the way he did. Last season, we learned about how he had robbed the general store with his friends. They got away, but he didn’t. So he had to do some time. And then, if you remember, he has been sending money to the store owner without telling Clara, and that had been going on for about a year or so. I think that’s a true testament to how much he’s changed and grown because I think he would have bolted before. But then we saw how he was genuinely trying to right the wrong.

Absolutely. And then I remember when he was working for Gowen, and I remember being worried about him. This was before Gowen’s redemption story.

Oh, yeah, that was before Jesse started working for Lee. So yes, we have had some tests throughout the years. Even with the Christmas movie where Dottie found the money that her husband had left for her. That was a big test for Jesse. But he passed that one with flying colors.

And he’s had his moments of being a little bit jealous too.

For sure, that was something he has had to overcome. He’s never had someone like Clara in his life before, and his whole life has turned around because of her. So there are some times where he’s been worried. And remember, he lost her once too when she was going through emotional issues concerning her late husband and he kept second-guessing their relationship. So jealousy has been a big deal for Jesse. I’m glad he got over that!

If I remember right, didn’t Jesse knock someone out?

Yeah, last season, when we were introduced to Nathan, Jesse went to go hit Lucas because I thought he kissed Clara’s hand. I went to go swing, and I ended up hitting Nathan. {laughs}

That’s what I thought! I remember that scene quite well.

He’s had his ups and downs, for sure. But I think at the end of the day, those are the kinds of lessons he needs to learn. He also needs to build up that confidence in himself. He doesn’t really have a reason to be jealous or worried about Clara moving on to someone else or leaving because they love each other so much. I think he’s learned to become more independent in terms of becoming his own person.

I think watching the relationship between Clara and Jesse over the seasons has been so much fun. I saw a neat tweet recently. Someone said that Jesse and Clara have become their favorite young couple of any of the young couples out there on TV today.

Aww, that’s so sweet. Very nice to hear that. We’ve been through so much together. It hasn’t been perfect, which is a bit different from some TV shows. Often, they’ll have a little bit of drama, but then they will make the relationship too smooth. I think we’ve had our ups and downs which makes it a bit more realistic and more like real life. I think they’ve kept it grounded. I think both Eva and I have really enjoyed that.

I would say both of you have grown as actors. It’s been really great to see that progression. We’ve been able to watch that as your characters grow, you both grow as actors too. That’s been a fun and refreshing thing to see. Since I’m in my mid-forties now, it’s nice to see young people like you two come along because it gives me hope for the future of the industry. Like, five or ten years from now, you will be the ones who will be playing the more significant roles. It’s one of the reasons I’m so passionate about promoting the kids and other young people on the show.

That’s so nice to hear, Ruth.

And when I see the cast behind-the-scenes, it’s always so great. You guys have become such a fantastic family.

Exactly! I was in LA earlier this year in time for that When Calls the Heart panel they did to kick off the season. It was just great to get together with the rest of the cast and go out for drinks and just hang out together.

Aren Buchholz and Eva Bourne

It’s always wonderful to see you guys together. It’s one of my favorite things about going to the Hearties Family Reunion. I love seeing you guys interact. It’s always so fun to watch.

Absolutely. I think it translates to the show too. You can see the kind of relationship we have. Even with myself and Eva. We’ve been together almost since the beginning. Our pairing happened very soon after my character showed up in Hope Valley. From that time up to now, we’ve become such close friends. It’s been awesome.

Aren & Eva With Ben Rosenbaum

What I have noticed at HFR is how you treat her with such respect. I mean, I know you’re friends, but it’s just nice to see a young man today treating a young woman with respect. I know you two are friends, but in today’s society, men do not always treat women that way. It’s something I notice about all the guys in the show. It’s sweet to see you be so caring and protective of Eva.

Thank you. I think that goes back to my upbringing and where I grew up. I’m a small-town boy, and I think those roots have been ingrained in me. I had two sisters, and I was taught to treat women the right way. I think that’s why I am the way I am. Eva is such a good friend. As I have been watching the shows this season, I notice how much Eva has grown. She just nails her scenes so well, and it’s cool to watch. I really think everybody is going to continue to love what she’s done this season. She’s fantastic, and they’ve given her a lot more material to show off her skill set.

I know there were a couple of seasons where we didn’t see you two as much. I know the fans made a big deal of that fact. I know it’s not just because of the fans, but I do think they help out.

I think the fans have always been a big factor in the screen time we get because of the support we get. I think we shared our first kiss in season four. I was looking back at those seasons, and it was like we were in it, but in so many ways, we were just there. And now we’re pretty essential, regular characters.

Now, I am not asking you to give away any spoilers, but what can you share about Jesse and Clara this season on When Calls the Heart?

Of course, you’ve been watching us plan our wedding. Clara’s first wedding was not the wedding of her dreams. So I think it’s pretty important to them both to have a nice, big event.

I wanted to tell you I loved the premiere episode that started off the season where the town is sitting around watching the picture show! That was so much fun to watch.

That scene was a lot of fun, by the way! We didn’t actually have the movie playing for us. Martin {Wood}, the director, was explaining to us what was supposed to be happening in the film we were watching. He was making up ridiculous stories to make us laugh. It was a blast!

I think your castmates were talking about that on Twitter during the premiere.

Not to give too much away, but I think you’re going to see a lot more with the Coulters. Lee and Jesse are already so close, but I think that relationship will continue to grow. Jesse looks up to Lee, and Clara looks up to Rosemary. There are some cool dynamics to see there. I don’t want to give too much away, but I think the Hearties have seen that in action already.

When it comes to the wedding, I think everyone knows that is happening in tonight’s episode. We’re not dragging it out.

That’s been the word on the street as the season has been going on.

I think I can say fully that the wedding looks beautiful. It’s a really great episode. Eva knocks it out of the park. Her character has a great storyline in it. I think the fans are gonna love it. It’s magical. I’m looking forward to sharing it with everyone.

What are some special scenes we can look forward to this season? Anything special stand out to you?

Well, yeah, going past the wedding, you’re going to see challenges that a young married couple might experience. I think that’s going to be interesting for people to see, especially with us both being so young and Jesse learning to be a husband. There are some really good scenes with Lee and Jesse that build their relationship even more. There’s some great drama coming up too. Going back a bit, there’s a scene with Jesse and Rosemary that I think the fans really enjoyed. If you don’t remember, you might want to go back and take a look at it. It was a fun scene.

Any time Rosemary’s in a scene, you can just about bet there will be something fun there.

Also, right before the wedding, Jesse’s not having cold feet, but I think he’s nervous about being enough for Clara and being a good husband. There’s a great scene leading up to that. Then Clara has her own issues before jumping into the marriage. That’s another great scene.

Well, if you think about it, you both have your own issues. She’s been married before. Not that it was a long marriage, but she was married and then tragically lost her husband. So I can imagine there will be fears on her end heading into the marriage. And then Jesse has a very checkered past, even though he’s cleaned it up. So I can imagine what he must be going through. Marriage does require work and growth to make it work.

For sure. I think like you said, Jesse’s got that checkered past, and I think that may always be something that is looming over his head. But at the same time, I think he’s also proven to not only the town and to Clara, but also to himself that he really is a changed man. But really, I don’t like to think he’s necessarily changed. I like to think he was always good, but because of the circumstances he was in, he was forced to survive. He made some poor choices, but in the end, he learned from them and it all worked out for him.

I think that’s true. Even today with teenagers, they might make a poor decision, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re bad kids.

Absolutely. I think that’s such a good theme of the show too. Not everything’s black and white. There’s a lot of gray areas, and I think we can apply that to the world we live in. There’s good and bad in everyone, but having compassion and empathy for your fellow human beings is a way to help everyone through this life.

Did you get to have any scenes with the Taylor Twins?

A little bit, yeah. Nothing one on one. I think that would be pretty funny if we babysat Jack for next season.

I’m sure those twins livened up the set, no doubt.

Oh yeah, they’re so cute. I will tell you that Baby Jack does have a part in the wedding.

Well, that makes perfect sense. The whole town is gonna be there, and it seems like having kids in weddings is always the cute part. Even if they don’t do it exactly right. I think people always tend to remember the imperfect parts of their weddings, and they can even become fond memories.

Well, just be sure to watch out for Baby Jack’s role in the wedding tonight.

Of course, we assume there will be a season eight, but we know nothing is guaranteed. I know there’s a lot of support out there, and lots of new Hearties too.

Really? That’s amazing. It would be great to keep the series going for as long as possible. So do you know how long Little House on the Prairie went for?

I’m not a hundred percent sure, but I think it was around ten years.

I could definitely see us going that long. Potentially. I can’t say for sure. And maybe a spin-off after that? I guess we’ll see what the future brings. I could see the Coulters having a spin-off.

True. Especially since there’s a spin-off already–When Hope Calls–so I could see that. And the Coulters have already guest-starred on When Hope Calls. So you never know. And maybe next year, Jesse and Clara could make a trip to Brookfield. I think that would be fun.

I think Jesse and Clara would be up for that.

Speaking of season seven, what I’ve noticed is that the writers have done an excellent job of making smooth transitions with all the storylines. It can be a challenge to write for a large ensemble cast, but I think they have done an excellent job.

Like you said, it’s a huge challenge with such a big cast. It’s nice that the fans are able to get a flavor of everyone, but people all still want to see more of certain cast members, like Elizabeth or whoever else. But personally, I think they do a great job of juggling it all.

It seems like they have a clear purpose behind what they’re doing. Not that the first few seasons were bad, but there were times a character would be in the show, but we didn’t really know why. Now there seems to be a really good focus behind everything they’re writing. I’ve been really impressed. I think it is a huge step up this season.

We have a great writing team, headed up by Alfonso {Moreno}. He actually did both shows–When Calls the Heart and When Hope Calls, and he killed it. That’s a lot to put on anyone’s plate, and he did a phenomenal job along with the entire writing team.

In addition to When Calls the Heart, do you have anything else upcoming that you can mention?

Not yet. I’m hopeful. Right now, things are on hiatus, but hopefully, after we’re through this crisis, there will be more opportunities. We wrapped in December for When Calls the Heart. So after Christmas, I started auditioning again, so we’ll see. I hope to book something soon so I can share more.

Every time I’ve seen you on Hallmark, you’ve always done a good job. You were in Wedding March 2, as we mentioned.

Yes, and then I did one of the Garage Sale movies.

You were also in Winter’s Dream.

Winter’s Dream

Yeah, that was a fun character. I never have mentioned this before, but at the time, I was still shooting When Calls the Heart. Originally, that character was supposed to be in his fifties. He was an older guy who owned this place at the mountain. For whatever the reason, the original person who was cast couldn’t do it. They actually called me out of the blue a day or two before they started shooting. They said, “We have this part that we’re thinking about changing a bit. Would you be willing to do it?” I was like, “Sure.”

I’m actually thinking I might have heard that from Kristin Booth and her husband because that was their movie.

Winter’s Dream

It was pretty funny. I waltzed in, and I was this snowboarding, long-haired guy who somehow owned the place.

But you know what? It worked. I always liked that movie.

Come to think of it, me and Eva have been talking about perhaps doing our own Hallmark movie.

Oh my goodness, yes! That would be amazing!

{laughs} Yeah, we’ve been in talks about it. We need to talk with the people at Hallmark and see if we can get something going there. I can’t promise anything yet, but it’s on the table.

I know that is something the fans have been asking about since you and Tara were Wedding March. They wanted you and Eva to be in a movie together.

I think it would be cool to do a modern-day rom-com.

I think that would be wonderful, and the fans would love it. It’s just finding the right project and finding the right people who are willing to say, “Let’s go for it.”

I think it would be a lot of fun to have new characters and a new dynamic.

Well, Kavan {Smith} and Pascale {Hutton} have done so well with their movies. And I understand they’re working on something else as well. So if they can do it, I don’t see why you and Eva couldn’t.

We’ll let you know when that time comes. Right now, we’re just talking, but hopefully, it will work out sometime in the future.

Looking towards season eight of When Calls the Heart–which we hope become as reality–what would you like to see for Jesse and Clara?

I know people have talked about babies, but I think they’re too young still. I think they should have some good young marriage years before they have a baby. Maybe get a dog or something. I think it would be good to have some solid time to be young and in love and married and have some fun, light-hearted storylines.

I think it would also be cool….we don’t know a lot about Jesse’s past. So maybe an old girlfriend or someone from his old gang might swing by Hope Valley. That could cause a bit of a firestorm for Jesse and Clara. It would be cool to see someone from his background or maybe even a long-lost sibling he didn’t know about.

I think that’s great. And I agree. I don’t think they need to jump in and have a child right off the bat. I realize that back in the day, it probably would have happened quickly, but since this is a TV show, they can take some liberties. I do think it would be really great to see you and Clara babysit Jack as you mentioned.

Yeah, I think that would be hilarious. Maybe Elizabeth could double date with the Coulters. Elizabeth could go with Nathan or Lucas or however that works out.

Oh, that would be fun, but it could be dangerous since Rosemary does tend to be a matchmaker. But when it comes down to it, Rosemary has the best heart. She always does everything with the best intentions from her heart.

That is so true.

Mark Humphrey as Pastor Frank, Aren Buchholz as Jesse

Well, Jesse, I just thank you for taking the time to chat with me today. It’s been great talking with you again. And I’m so glad that there are devoted Hearties–Team Classe–who have wanted you together from the beginning. I wasn’t sure about you in the beginning, but those fans helped to sway me.

Aren Buchholz

It was fun playing Jesse when he was a little more complicated, so I understand what you’re saying. And I’m so grateful for those who have supported me all along. But seeing his redemption story come through has been so nice too.

Just as a bit of insight here, when I first booked the role of Jesse, he was only supposed to be on for something like three episodes. There was the potential to do more, but he was not supposed to be like what he is now. And that’s kind of cool.

It’s always great when that happens. I know I hear those stories regularly from actors who were brought on a guest star, and then they become a recurring character. I’m so glad it worked out for you.

Thank you, Ruth. I look forward to seeing everyone tonight for the wedding. And I hope all the Hearties stay safe out there.

You can’t talk with Aren too long before you realize that not only is he a profound thinker and a gifted artist, but he has absolutely no egotistical machinations whatsoever. Unlike a multitude of young men (and women, too) who exist in this world of ours, Aren is one who consistently places the needs and feelings of others before his own. He doesn’t need to be a “macho” man who insists on star billing nor one who treats others with disdain lest they become more popular than he. After all, Aren is content to remain in the background, do his job to the best of his ability, and permit his talent to do the talking as opposed to his lips. In so doing, Aren has become an authentic fixture in Hope Valley, and his character, Jesse, has become an illustration of how second chances are conceivable. As Aren stated in our interview, Jesse’s mistakes do not define who he is. While this young man has spent years proving to himself and everyone else that he has changed and is worthy of Clara’s affection and devotion, in so doing, he has exhibited a zeal that extends far beyond the typical young person who makes empty promises and lapses back into his/her old habits once a crisis is averted. While Aren only portrays the character of Jesse, there is no doubt that he has infused his small-town charm into every pore of his character, and it stands to reason why the Hearties (of every age) are enamored with his artistic skill on so many levels.

I hope that everyone tunes in tonight (March 29th) for one of the most exquisite weddings to ever happen in Hope Valley. Additionally, please makes plans to finish out the season with us over the next few weeks by tuning in Sunday nights to the Hallmark Channel or Super Channel Heart & Home. While you are luxuriating in the loveliness of Team Classe, I invite you to check out Aren’s links below and consider following him where applicable. In a world that appears to be spinning out of control and is regularly laden with terrifying news, isn’t it nice to escape the din of the maddening crowd and have a few moments of respite with a show whose entire foundation is built on faith, hope, and love? Let’s revel in the love presented by the characters of Jesse and Clara tonight. Moreover, as we place our faith in the unconditional love of our Creator, let’s give thanks to Him for bringing a dynamic actor and kind man into the world of When Calls the Heart, and may we pledge to support this young man in all his endeavors in the upcoming days, weeks, months and years. I am convinced Aren is well on his way to virtual Hallmark stardom, and I’m ready to cheer him on from the wings along with all the other Hearties!

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RuthView all posts by Ruth

“Don’t bend; don’t water it down; don’t try to make it logical; don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” — Franz Kafka Ruth is an inspirational entertainment journalist who instinctively sees the best in all and seeks to share universal beauty, love and positivity. She is an artist who leads with her heart and gives readers a glimpse of the best of this world through the masterful use of the written word. Ruth was born in Tacoma, Washington but now calls Yelm, Washington her home. She lives on five acres with her parents, a dog, two miniature goats, cats and a teenage daughter who is a dynamic visual artist herself. Ruth interviews fellow artists both inside and outside of the film/television industry. At the core of all she does is the strength of her faith.

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2 Comments

Mike Wright March 31, 2020 Reply

Its indeed like a nice story follows… thanks for sharing 🙂
denise March 30, 2020 Reply

That was a fun interview.

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